Inside The Art Affair: How One Night in Southhampton Became the Hamptons’ Most Talked-About Art Gathering
By midsummer, the Hamptons social calendar tends to blur into a familiar rhythm of galas and beach clubs. The Art Affair, now in its fourth consecutive year, was built to interrupt that rhythm— and on Friday, July 10, it did exactly that.
Photo by Venus Legeon
Created by contemporary artist Eddy Bogaert and Maryam Zadeh, the evening returned once again to Igor Ger's private Southampton estate, where guests wandered between gallery installations and Ger's own vintage car collection parked across the grounds. It's the fourth straight summer Ger has opened the estate to the event, and the pairing of fine art with a driveway of classic automobiles has become something of a signature. Doors opened at 6 p.m. and the last guests didn't leave until well past 11.
Bogaert, an internationally recognized painter whose own work moves between abstraction and raw emotional texture, co-hosted the night alongside Zadeh, Ger and Rad Roubeni. Together, the organizers have spent four summers refining a formula that treats an art opening less as a transaction and more as an experience—one where the point isn't just to look at the work, but to talk to the person who made it.
"The Art Affair is about bringing together extraordinary talent and creating meaningful conversations through art. It's an opportunity to celebrate creativity, foster new relationships, and experience contemporary art in a dynamic and immersive environment."
— Eddy Bogaert, Co-Founder, The Art Affair
Photo by Venus Legeon
That philosophy showed up in the guest list as much as the art on view. More than two dozen artists and galleries exhibited work throughout the estate, including Bogaert, Zadeh, Roubeni, Black Book Gallery, Yubal Márquez Fleites, Victor Gallery, Mazlish & Wright Contemporary, Kyle Black, Brett Loving, NotYourMuse, Jason Fox, Julia Beynenson, Ralph Ortiz, Jaja Goulbourne, Dolor, Nina Hurwitz, Renata Sheppard, Mike Dreeland, Sarkis, Deirdre Imus, Alejandro Glatt, Olha Svieshnikova, M. Stachio, Ben Bar Vakil, Mr. Ideaz and Matthew Trujillo—a lineup that spanned emerging names alongside artists with established international followings.
Photo by Venus Legeon
The exhibitions were only half the night. As early guests arrived, a harp-and-guitar duo performed on the estate's grounds, easing the crowd from daylight into evening. Live sets from Lee Kalt, Haley Grace and JehiahSax carried the energy from there, alongside performances by Edward W. Hardy and Stephanie Babirak, including a live charcoal drawing performance staged directly on the patio floor. As the night deepened, a fire performance by Flambeaux—a recurring closer at past editions—pulled guests outside mid-conversation. A cocktail and wine program built around sponsors including Alazani Estate Winery, Upstate Vodka, Reif Rum, Jaywalk Rye, Drink Black Mkt, Hello Honey Iced Tea and Superior Sparkling kept the crowd moving between installations.
What's notable about The Art Affair isn't just its guest list—it's what it represents about how the Hamptons function in summer now. The region has long doubled as a retreat for New York's creative and collecting class, but events like this one suggest something more deliberate: a working cultural circuit, built around real relationships between artists and the people who buy and champion their work, layered on top of the usual seasonal escape.
Organizers wouldn't put a number on attendance, only describing the July 10 edition, produced with David Atlas and Rad Art NYC, as among the strongest turnout in the event's four-year history, with collectors and gallerists arriving from Manhattan, the greater East End, and internationally.
For Bogaert, who has exhibited his own work across international markets, the scale of the night matters less than its intimacy. As co-founder and host, he's said the goal has never been to grow The Art Affair into a fair—it's to keep it small enough that a first-time attendee can still end up in a real conversation with an artist whose work they walked in not knowing.
The Art Affair is expected to return to Ger's Southampton estate for a fifth year next summer, with organizers already planning an expanded roster of artists and galleries.
Tearsheets by Daniel López, Art Director, PhotoBook Magazine
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